KickStarter Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs, tactical JRPG for PC from... Polan?

[bonescraper]

• A Disgaea meets Persona formula with a western twist on the classic strategy JRPG genre.
• A robust turn-based combat system with the right balance between complexity and fluidity.
• An attractive look and feel, with hand-drawn 2D backgrounds and a soundtrack produced by Game Audio Factory (Endless Legend, Endless Space).
• Light 4X elements - build your own village, conduct diplomacy, send your companions on expeditions for resources and treasures.
• A huge cast of characters to meet, recruit and befriend through Social Links.
• Lots of replayability with procedurally generated content, New Game+ and Ironman modes.
• For Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4* and PlayStation Vita*
• No microtransactions, no Steam Early Access (why?), no DRM.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1719693924/regalia-of-men-and-monarchs

Finally, a tactical JRPG for PC. It's already funded, but you still can pledge, as the Kickstarter ends in 3 days. I think this game deserves its own thread. The art is p. good for a gaijin game and the 4x elements sound intriguing.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I like the character design. Hope the combat will be fun.

Shame on them for ripping off Major Armstrong's design, tho. But then again, Jap designs aren't too shy on doing expies every now and then.

 

[Siveon]

Looks alright, but, the combat...

It looks a lot like The Banner Saga. Which is disappointing, since my favorite Strategy RPGs always had these expansive maps with a bunch of shit in them. Which I don't think The Banner Saga had.

Why can't more people emulate Final Fantasy Tactics or at least Fire Emblem* when it comes to map design?

*

Before Awakening

 

[vonAchdorf]

I like the character design. Hope the combat will be fun.

Shame on them for ripping off Major Armstrong's design, tho. But then again, Jap designs aren't too shy on doing expies every now and then.

Here's how they developed their style:
http://www.regaliagame.com/2015/02/26/finding-the-right-style/

Looks good, but yes, the battle maps could be a bit more interesting. All the nice feature are around the flat field, it should be the other way 'round.

Their pitch video was very professional, it looks like they have some experience in the field.

 

[evdk]

Looks like Disgaea

 

[Lucky]

They do mention Disgaea (and Persona?), but it reminds me more of what we've seen of BEDLAM. They also talk about having invested a lot of their own money in the game's development, so it seems that they're not solely relying on the relatively low kickstarter amount.

 

[Morality Games]

Ha. They had them at Persona.

And they're even calling them Social Links.

Fair enough. I bet Atlus wishes they could do that with the core SMT series.

 

[Jimmious]

So last 4 hours, needs 3-4k more for the last stretch goal.
I pledged, I find the concept interesting, plus it's one more turn-based JRPG, what could possibly go wrong?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1719693924/regalia-of-men-and-monarchs/description

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

• A Disgaea meets Persona formula with a western twist on the classic strategy JRPG genre.

Devil Survivor 2: Polish Edition? I'm in!

 

[flyingjohn]

Fuck the art and fuck the characters, i just want a srpg with hard combat on interesting maps with objectives that aren't just kill everything.The last srpg that i played that was not a cakewalk was fire emblem radiant dawn and devil survivor.

 

[CryptRat]

Last Kickstarter update :

Hello backers!

It's time for our fifth development update! Despite still being fresh out of the Combat Preview release haze, we are not stopping with new information and content.

Looking back at the Combat Preview
If we were to summarize the experience with the Combat Preview release in one sentence, we would say: we are happy. The whole process went without any major hiccups and we didn't get reports of any game breaking bugs. We would like to thank all our backers who took the time and effort to write us very nice and detailed feedback posts. You can read all backers feedback on the demo here.

The feedback has been positive, which was very satisfying for us and ensured that we are heading in the right direction with the combat. Of course, there are still plenty of things that need improvement and polishing - we have gotten a lot of great tips on what works and what doesn't. We have already begun working on implementing some of the changes. Here are some examples:

- ragdolls of defeated combatants will now disappear from the battlefield after a short time. Requested here and here.

- the Stun mechanism was tweaked to avoid the annoying perpetual stun lock on characters. Requested here, here and here. We will also be adding more ways to deal with negative status effects.

Stun lock! Stun lock! Stun lock!
- movement ranges of combatants can now be previewed by left clicking on them. Requested here and here.

- hovering over a combatant now highlights their portrait in the turn order. Requested here.

- a prototype of skill combos or skill synergies is now implemented in the game (more information below). Requested here and here.

- deployment screen now displays how many characters can be deployed. Requested here.

You will be able to test all of those changes when the next Backer Beta is released.

What's next for the combat system?
We have outlined a short roadmap for the features that are still in production for the combat system. Today, we are happy to announce that both of those features - skill synergies and large units - are already implemented in the prototype stage and are being tested as we speak.

What's next for the Backer Beta?
The next stage of the Beta, aka the Vertical Slice, will arrive sometime in the first half of 2016. We are currently cautiously eyeing the end of March for the release of The Vertical Slice but this is a still very early prediction and is subject to change.

To sweeten the wait, however, we are happy to share with you the final feature list of the beta:

• play through the whole unabridged first two chapters of the game - the introduction and the first quarter of the first game year
• control five distinct party members in battle: Kay, Griffith, Signy, Aliss and Levant (who will be the first 2x2 player-controlled character!)
• recruit four villagers to help you with your journey: Baz & Lilka the Innkeepers, Miri the Pathfinder and Gunther the Blacksmith
• explore two regions of the world: central Rashytil and Alfheimerian border
• try out most of the major systems of the game: combat, social links, world exploration, gathering, crafting and town building

The Vertical Slice will release to all 35$+ backers and will be available on PC Windows only.

New assets
It wouldn't be a Regalia's Development Update without some new art and models to look at, would it? :D

New characters appear

This month we present the next two villagers for you to settle: Miri and Haksun. You will be able to meet both of them in the upcoming Backer Beta. There's also Quinn, our heavily armoured warrior and the last party member who will be able to fight alongside Kay. Some of you already know her from the Combat Preview.

New region unveiled

We're unveiling two new explorable regions today. You've already seen Rashytil in the original Kickstarter pitch, now it's time for Alfheimr and Lordemar - or rather, their areas bordering with the Rashytil Expanse. We've also listened to your request from last month and prepared a high resolution versions of the background, if you want to use them as wallpapers.


The Biting Sea

Dawn's Approach
New battlegrounds

We bring more variety to the battlegrounds this month with three new backgrounds. As you can see, all three of them were made to address the initial 'empty grid' feedback.

Updated assets

We've updated the look of Gunther's Forge this month to bring it more in-line with the rest of our interior backgrounds. There's Heinrich's own corner in there this time!

New 3D models

As usual you can click on the image for a high quality, animated turntable.




That's it for this month, folks!
We hope you enjoyed reading this update and we will see you next month!

 

[CryptRat]

Development Update 6: December

Hello backers!

It's difficult to believe that the end of the year is almost here. It seems like it was not so long ago that we nervously started Regalia's campaign, but indeed, 6 months have now passed. This update releases much earlier than our usual last day of the month due to Holidays and New Year's Eve. Because of this, it's going to be a little lighter on assets than usual, but it will also be a little different.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

First of all, we would to wish you the very best from all of us here at Pixelated Milk. We hope this short break will bring you all happiness, joy and respite, and that the new year will be the best one for you yet: full of success, love and dreams coming true.

Looking back

I (Bartosz) would like to use this rare opportunity to offer a brief summary of this year.

First of all - and this might be a surprise - it certainly has been a very difficult year for us. Despite the Kickstarter success, good backer feedback and decent coverage, we have had (and still have) our share of bleak moments - some of them very, very intense. As the leader of this project, I want to say clearly that I am proud of every single one of the team members - the gals and guys at PixMilk worked hard on Regalia and stayed loyal to me, to the project and to you, despite all adversities. I truly believe that the unity of this team is its strongest asset. To them, I say 'thank you'!

I also wanted to touch upon where we have underperformed this year. The most obvious area is communication. While we've mostly been on time with all of our Kickstarter updates, the e-mail, PM and forum response times have been, at times, less than optimal. The reason is simple - on an average day, we're usually knee deep in the project, and the messages get lost in the rush sometimes. Of course, it's still only an excuse, and we fully aim to better communicate with you in the future. I think it's doubly important nowadays, especially given the demise of many other high-profile JRPG Kickstarters (there seems to be some kind of a curse hanging on those!).

The other weak area is the PR. The market is rife with good games being dead on arrival because of lack of exposure - it's something that we've experienced ourselves during the first half of the crowdfunding campaign. Our current plan is to ramp up the PR as we get closer to the release window. Fortunately, we won't have to improvise here. We already have a trusty and tried partnership with the good guys at Kool Things who worked with us during the campaign and will hopefully work with us again.

New screenshots

It's actually been some time since we've released a nice batch of screenshots and the end of the year is the perfect opportunity to rectify it. We selected a couple of them representing new features we've added recently.

2x2 units are in! Levant is now propery imposing on the grid.

Scenarios with varied deployment zone are also in. They help keep things interesting.

Calendar and NPC (along with their activity schedules!) systems are implemented and working in-game.

We've finalized the look and feel of the UI. Here's a fully functional main menu.
New battlegrounds

A lot of snowy backgrounds were created this month. You'll be able to fight on them in the upcoming Backer Beta.

New locations

Backer content

To answer the question we've been getting quite a lot recently - the production of the backer content (NPCs, monsters, weapons and ancestors) will begin after we have finished our 'base' character assets. We currently estimate for it to happen around February. Expect e-mail communication from us with all qualifying backers to happen then!

Soundtrack update

We're happy to announce that our friends at Game Audio Factory have finished composing the tracks for our soundtrack. The next step is a recording session with the orchestra and another for additional live instruments. This is currently planned for the first half of January, so we're not very far from being able to share those juicy tracks with you.

Farewell sketch

We're back with our usual sketch teaser this month. We have a loooot of new characters in the pipeline - we think you will like them.

ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER

 

[CryptRat]

Some relevant stuff (character developement, and C&C) :

Leveling system and character advancement

As we've said before, Regalia is unique in terms of character skillsets because they are unique for each character. We're not using any classes or subsets at all. Every party member has their own pool of skills which defines their playstyle and role on the battlefield. The other unorthodox thing is that all five skills are available to party members from level 1 (with a minor exception in the case of tutorial fights). This creates a justified question: does that mean that there's no choice in how I level up my characters? Quite the contrary!

In the game, there are 20 experience levels in total and each level up lets the player select a perk to advance the character. The variety of benefits granted by these perks is huge, ranging from stat boosts, immunities and passive abilities to complete skill modifications. The pool of available perks for each character consits of ~40 perks (some are shared between characters and some are unique), which is double the number you will be able to select, leading to (hopefully) interesting decisions. With a huge cast of 14 playable characters, the customization possibilities are really quite large. Moreover, this does not take the benefits of Social Links into the equation!

Text adventures! Text adventures galore!

Regalia is a text-heavy game, which probably is not too surprising given its Eastern and Western inspirations. Because of this, text adventures play a big role in the game, adding some needed variety to the gameplay in the form of activity to pursue besides combat, socializing and building/crafting.

These will be found exclusively out there in the world, scattered around various locations. We're writting A LOT of them, with tons of variety in their content. You will attend troll seminars, dance with drunken people in remote inns and eat glowing mushrooms. Each is a mini-story in itself, with choices and consequences. The outcomes will sometimes vary significantly depending on your decisions. You could end up with some experience, or some loot, or a positive buff for your next combat, but you can just as well find yourself ambushed or suffer negative debuffs. Finally, the adventures are strictly optional - you can skip them if you're not in the mood or you just WANT TO KILL STUFF. Trust us, we understand.

Art imitates life?

The entire update :

Spoiler

Hello backers!

Seventh update is here, and with it, some juicy information about gameplay mechanisms you will find in Regalia.

Leveling system and character advancement

As we've said before, Regalia is unique in terms of character skillsets because they are unique for each character. We're not using any classes or subsets at all. Every party member has their own pool of skills which defines their playstyle and role on the battlefield. The other unorthodox thing is that all five skills are available to party members from level 1 (with a minor exception in the case of tutorial fights). This creates a justified question: does that mean that there's no choice in how I level up my characters? Quite the contrary!

In the game, there are 20 experience levels in total and each level up lets the player select a perk to advance the character. The variety of benefits granted by these perks is huge, ranging from stat boosts, immunities and passive abilities to complete skill modifications. The pool of available perks for each character consits of ~40 perks (some are shared between characters and some are unique), which is double the number you will be able to select, leading to (hopefully) interesting decisions. With a huge cast of 14 playable characters, the customization possibilities are really quite large. Moreover, this does not take the benefits of Social Links into the equation!

Text adventures! Text adventures galore!

Regalia is a text-heavy game, which probably is not too surprising given its Eastern and Western inspirations. Because of this, text adventures play a big role in the game, adding some needed variety to the gameplay in the form of activity to pursue besides combat, socializing and building/crafting.

These will be found exclusively out there in the world, scattered around various locations. We're writting A LOT of them, with tons of variety in their content. You will attend troll seminars, dance with drunken people in remote inns and eat glowing mushrooms. Each is a mini-story in itself, with choices and consequences. The outcomes will sometimes vary significantly depending on your decisions. You could end up with some experience, or some loot, or a positive buff for your next combat, but you can just as well find yourself ambushed or suffer negative debuffs. Finally, the adventures are strictly optional - you can skip them if you're not in the mood or you just WANT TO KILL STUFF. Trust us, we understand.

Art imitates life?
New characters revealed

Two new characters arrive this month including our last month teaser, Addie the Lumberjack, also known as the People's Champion. We think you will find it surprising that Addie is actually a VILLAIN in the game. That's right, first you face debt collectors, then pissed off lumberjacks. We weren't kidding when we said that it's a story unlike any other! Gee, we wonder who's the next villain (a worker union? DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!)...Anyway, we're also revealing Bassanius today. Despite his looks, he is actually pretty friendly and serves as one of the potential residents of your town, filling in for the role of a Mystic. He is also inspired by a certain well-known comic writer, but we'll leave it up to you to fill in the blanks.

Orchestral soundtrack update

We've made a huge step towards our Orchestral Soundtrack stretch goal completion - our friends at Game Audio Factory have finished recording with the orchestra this month, which means that we are now very close to finishing the music for the game. We'll be unveiling some sweet tunes soon!

New town screen

The old town screen was really quite average in quality and looked very artificial, so we put extra effort this month to redo it and bring it closer to the overall look and quality of the game. We've added moving trees, running water and a lot of animated details, which you will be able to see in the upcoming Backer Beta.


Click for a full version of the image with more buildings!
New models

Another two new models appear this month. One is for Miri and the other for the Troll enemy, whose looks might or might not be inspired by one of our team members.



New locations



Check this cool project out!


http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=606206230

If you like Monster Hunter, please consider checking out The Hunt. Set in a dystopian future post-apocalyptic world, you play as a member of a timeless group of robotic hunters, tasked with eliminating hideous mutated creatures across the world. Complete hunts and other types of quests to level up and earn new gear. It's currently on Steam Greenlight, so please vote for it!

Character teaser

We're signing off with our usual character teaser. Take care guys, we'll see you next month!

Oops, zat vas not medicine.

 

[CryptRat]

Some screenshots and one of the battle themes :

Hello backers!

Things are heating up at our offices as we are entering the crucial production stage for the upcoming Backer Beta.

Backer Beta

We're not confident enough to commit to a precise date yet, but we are getting close to Beta's launch. We will be announcing the date as soon as we have it pinned down, in a separate update. Please be a little more patient, we're almost there!

The first track of the orchestral soundtrack unveiled!

Finally! We are super excited to share this with you. Thanks to our friends at Game Audio Factory, the soundtrack is almost ready. We have some additional goodies planned for the soundtrack, so stay tuned.

Today, we unveil the second Battle Theme for Regalia, complete with orchestra, electric guitars and drums. Enjoy!


___

Promised screenshots

Last month, I've made a promise to our backer Joel Fox that we'll upload some screenshots of various scenes where characters talk with each other. Here they are (that conversation UI still needs work, though)!

The current 3D cast

We've prepared a fun little image for this month, showcasing our current cast in their 3D form. This image will grow bigger as we model more and more characters (Dwarves! Elves! Gnomes!).


Click for a high-res version of the image
New characters appear

It wouldn't be much of Regalia's Development Update without new characters, would it? We're actually getting close to revealing the entirety of our cast (except for some major spoilery ones!), but we think it's still quite a large roster.

So! today we're introducing you to the second elf you will be able to recruit for your town - Winter the Prospector. She will be handling all matters related to resources, resource smelting and the gathering minigame (GASP! Did I say *minigame*?). The other one is the masked dude whom you've already met last month, Riehl the Alchemist. He is going to be the guy to go to for all kinds of potions and consumable crafting.

New backgrounds

Our 2D artists have produced three new backgrounds for you this month - two battlegrounds and one town location. We are really working hard on making the color palettes of these paintings stand out more, and we think the final effects are worth that extra effort.

Fields of the Heartlands

Another background for the Festerlands (Mirkmen are really excited about stunning you in those narrow corridors!)

The Pier in your town
New locations

Deserts are cool, right? Everybody loves deserts! Well, except for Kay. Kay hates sand. It's coarse and it gets everywhere...


The Arid Stretch
I have my eye on you

Runshin made a little mashup this month. We think it looks quite cool, so we're sharing it with you. This picture presents faces for all our current in-game characters. They are used as textures for the 3D heads of the models. Can you guys guess which face belongs to which character (you can cross-reference with the 'current 3D cast' picture!).

Turtles!

Did you know that the gnomes of Minwe are traders? Of course you did! But did you know that they are using TURTLE caravans to travel around the world? Wouldn't it be cool if you could see a gnome merchant arrive at your town with said turtle at his side? Fortunately, you can!

Combat system tweaks

We've introduced a lot of small tweaks to the combat system in order to make it more enjoyable and intuitive. Here are some examples:

• resistances are now flat percentage values. In other words, a 50% Fire Resistance will mitigate half of the fire damage dealt to a character. This is also true for Physical Resistance (Armor). This was done to help you make more informed decisions in the level up process. In the previous iteration, due to the use of a relative value, it was confusing for a player to know how much a boon that '+5 Armor' really was.
• we have dropped the relative Accuracy/Dodge values. Accuracy is now a flat percentage value and is not modified by the target's Dodge. Instead, the Dodge is now a separate "saving throw", which is tested and applied after a character is hit. To sum it up, it's now possible for a character to be hit but avoid the effects by dodging them. In addition, high Accuracy (over 100%) will negate a portion of the target's Dodge value.
• Initiative now grants a small chance of an additional activation during a turn. The higher the Initiative, the higher the chance. This will make investing in Initiative (and its respective perks) a more viable option during the level up process.
• we have dropped the "dots on the grid" system we've used in the preview for visual representation of global effects. While the idea seemed good on paper, we believe it wasn't very readable and quickly became chaotic in more heated situations. The affected effects (Kay's Banner, Ice Incarnate's Chill Zone aura, etc.) were redesigned a little bit to account for the change.

Character teaser

More dwarves! Woo!

 

[Excidium II]

Some screenshots and one of the battle themes :

Interesting.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Winter is cute! Cute!

 

[CryptRat]

The final playable character is a dwarf hobo.

Hello backers!

Welcome to the first update of Spring 2016! With the snows finally gone and temperatures steadily increasing, we're ready to optimistically share with you the content of the ninth Development Update.

Beta! When?!

We still need a liiiittle more time. The whole team is crunching HARD to deliver you a satisfying beta experience that is as enjoyable as possible. We have finished almost all content and production planned for the vertical slice. Now it's time for some extensive in-house testing and minor polishing (it's a beta after all); as soon as that's done, we'll share the build with you. Stay tuned!

More footage

To follow up on the screenshots from various dialogue scenes from last month, we've thought it would be nice to share a quick look at how they look in motion, complete with voice acting, dialogue animations, emoticons, sounds and music. Here's a very brief, spoiler free cutscene we've selected for this task:


_

We still have more things planned for the cutscenes, like character portraits changing based on their emotions, more physics-driven animations (similar to Kay's flowing cloak) and general polish. This is however a good base we will be using for the backer beta.

Minigames!

Yup, that's plural. Regalia will feature a second minigame in addition to the stretch goal fishing - gathering! There's quite a lot of crafting in our game. Not only will you be able to craft weapons, armor and accessories, but also construct and upgrade buildings. There are two types of crafting components: resources and reagents. Reagents drop from monsters while resources are gathered out in the wild. We thought it would be a little bit boring for the gathering to be simply "click a button and see the results", so we introduced a simple minigame.

It's a variation of the Match 3 gameplay similar to Bejeweled or Puzzle Quest. It's designed to be really quick and unobtrusive. You always have the option of skipping the minigame if you don't feel like playing it and still receive the rewards (although playing it will always reap better stuff). It's seamlessly integrated into the game mechanics, with Winter's social link directly affecting the overall difficulty of gathering.

Unique encounters

This is another new feature that you will be able to test out in the backer beta - varied encounters with unique minibosses. They are spread out around the world, hidden in various text adventures. What's important is that they are largely optional and depend on your choices in said adventures. Some decisions can resolve a fight peacefully, others could make it harder or easier.

Each of these encounters features a unique, one-of-a-kind variation of an already existing enemy with twists applied to the combat scenario (some of them even have unique battle backgrounds!).

In the backer beta, for example, you will be able to find two unique encounters with minibosses based on the Zombie monster - The King of Soot and Zombie General.

Zombie General can be found deep in the forest of Falgarwood. The encounter is instantly won when the boss is slain, however, doing so is not an easy feat, because he is protected by (destructible) barricades and a swarm of strategically placed underlings in the map's choke point.

Zombie General scenario
The King of Soot can be found in the underground of Krakkan Peaks, spawning wave after wave of fire walls on the stage. Each turn, those walls will combust and expand, making the grid a more and more dangerous place to fight in. Fire-resistant combatants, proper items and snappy pace will be crucial!

Last but not least

Here's the promised final member of the cast - Shichiroji, the resident hobo of your village. Nothing more fun than a drunken dwarf veteran!

New monsters

It's been quite a while since we last revealed a monster, so today we have two new ones for you - including the mysterious creature that we teased last month. Enjoy!

New house

Ding! Ding! Another house interior has arrived for your village. This time it's the Mystic's Tower, where Bassanius (the old guy) lives.

Glycon would feel right at home.
New location

This month we reveal the last of the explorable regions of the game - the exotic land of the dwarves. A barren land of steppes, seas of grass, salt lakes and green mountains.


Rashiwari Steppes
We've also created a small mix of all the explorable zones from the game, for your viewing pleasure.


Teaser

Since we've ran out of characters for the monthly teaser, this time we'll post a small sneak peek of one of the house interiors that's currently in production. Can you guess who will live in it?

 

[deuxhero]

I think this is the first time I clicked on a thread from the I thought sounded interesting, then sigh because it's a kickstarter AND a necro. Normally it's just one of the two.

 

[CryptRat]

Short beta incoming, and they talk about combat main and secondary objectives :

Boy, do we have a lot of content for you this month! It is fitting then that it's a round Tenth Development Update for our game. Fasten your seatbelts, people, and enjoy the ride!

BETA TIME!
Backer Beta Release Date Announcement

That's right! We can finally announce that the Backer Beta will launch on June 1st, 2016 (Wednesday). A nice little gift for you all on Children's Day. For your comfort, the build will be distributed through Steam. All qualifying backers will receive their Steam Keys via e-mail on the day of the launch. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE BACKER BETA IS AVAILABLE TO 35$+ BACKERS ONLY.

More information about the delivery of the Beta, along with the FAQ and feedback forums will be available in the beta release Kickstarter update, which should also land on June 1st.

What's in the Beta?

Our Beta features quite a lot of content, so here's a list. Lots of numbers ahead!

• 2 playable chapters of the game - Tutorial and Chapter 1
• 5 playable party members - Kay, Griffith, Signy, Aliss, Levant
• 6 recruitable villagers - Baz and Lilka the Innkeepers, Gunther the Blacksmith, Miri the Pathfinder, Haksun the Merchant and Shichiroji the Hobo
• 9 Social Links for both party members and villagers, pursuable up to Level 2 (out of 5).
• 2 full regions to explore - The Heartlands and The Biting Sea
• 24 battle encounters - complete with the new Objective and Challenge Systems (more on that below) and hidden mini-bosses
• 18 unique text adventures
• 1 minigame - gather resources all over the world
• Full Orchestral Soundtrack
• Professional English voice acting
• ...and more to discover!

Here are some sweet, sweet gifs from various beta encounters:

....aaand some screenshots:

What's NOT in the Beta?

POLISH! Seriously, the Beta is a very different beast from the Combat Preview, which was a very small, self-contained piece of code. There will be bugs and there will be many rough, unpolished spots in it. Animations, User Interface, World Map and general Player Feedback all need major polish passes before the release.

Please have this in mind as you play! As before, we will have feedback forums and we will be paying diligent attention to your suggestions. Nothing is set in stone - there's always room for improvements!

NEW COMBAT FEATURES
Major Combat Improvements

What's the silent killer of most tactical RPGs? We would say it's tedium. What's one of the major causes of tedium in games like ours? We would say it's lack of variety. This is also something that we have discussed in our Backer Teamspeak Meetings.

We are happy to announce three new, major systems that were added to the game and will be available in the Beta - Objectives, Challenges and Combat Modifiers.

Objectives are what you, as a player, need to achieve in order to win in a battle. If you were worried about all battles being simply about smashing your enemies in their stupid faces, then worry not anymore! We have prepared 6 distinct types for you in the Beta:

Challenges are completely optional mini-objectives that ask you to win fights in a specific way. Remember Judges from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance? This is something similar but without penalizing the player for not complying with the system. Each challenge is worth additional experience and possibly new loot. They have various level of difficulty - some might be very difficult to achieve indeed! Examples of challenges include:

• win without using specific skills
• win using only specific skills
• win in X turns
• win without missing a skill
• win without moving at all (!)
• win with a single deployed character... the list keeps going on!

Combat Modifiers work in tandem with Objectives and Challenges to crank up that encounter variety even higher. Instead of presenting you with a specific task, they modify the battle even further, introducing wacky rules or setups. This ensures that two Annihilation encounters will play differently, despite having the same objective. Here are some examples of modifiers you will see in beta:

• unusual deployment pattern - what if you had found yourself lost in the swamps with your characters scattered around the map and monsters circling around them?
• reanimation aura - what if there was a dark presence on the battlefield that summons new undead monsters on every turn?
• odd wind - what if there was a strange, magical wind blowing that moves combatants around the battlefield randomly every turn?
• spawning pools - what if there were destroyable objects on the battlefield that spawn additional enemies on every turn?

BETA'S VOICE CAST REVEALED
As you probably already know, Regalia will feature a very hefty dose of professional English voice acting thanks to our cooperation with Sound Cadence Studios. For Beta alone we have over 1400 lines recorded for 22 characters.

Today we have the pleasure of revealing the full cast of voice actors for the Backer Beta. We have attached a sample voiced line for each below.
(the voices are on the Kickstarter update page)

• Kay - Nicholas Andrew Louie

• Elaine - Amanda Julina

• Gwendolyn - Amber Lee Connors

• Griffith - Steven Kelly

• Desideratus - River Kanoff

• Aliss - Melissa Sternenberg

• Levant - Jason Marnocha

• Signy - Michele Knotz

• Addie - Sarah Williams

• Miri - Kira Buckland

• Crucey - Daman Mills

• Shichiroji - Edwyn Tiong

• Haksun - Kamran Nikhad

• Gunther - Lucas Schulman

NEW CONTENT
Emotions on character portraits

One of the recurring suggestions we were getting from our backers was to add emotions to characters' portraits during cutscenes. Well, we're happy to announce that this is currently in production and will be available in the Backer Beta. Here are some examples:

New location

Oooh, would you look at that - a new location has appeared!

Someone's clearly not cool about fire safety.
New interiors

You won't see these in the Beta, but still - here's two new house interiors for Winter the Prospector and Riehl the Alchemist.

Stones Have Eyes o_o

Steampunk is (not) dead!
New Enemy type

A completely new type of an enemy will appear in the Beta - Bandits! They appear in various flavours - Muggers, Brutes and even Bosses. A JRPG without a "Steal" ability wouldn't be a JRPG, right? :D

Acvtvs Id Verberat
New World Map

Our very own Runshin has been working diligently for the past month, painstakingly creating the new Overworld map that will be used in game to travel around various regions of the Rashytil Expanse. It's definitely one of the most colourful artworks we have!

 

[Ninjerk]

Ayla smash

 

[Jack Dandy]

The wildling girl is cute!

 

[Jimmious]

That was a good Update with a lot of content

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Siveon]

Didn't expect the voice acting to sound like an English dub or a Saturday morning cartoon. Slightly charming, though I can imagine it can get grating to some.

Oddly enough it sounds better with more news, when its usually the opposite. Did they ever say they're dropping the idea of a vita version? I'd except an SRPG that's not Disgaea, honestly.

 

[Bubbles]

We'll be attending a presentation and having a hands-on at Gamescom - you can post any questions here.